Cassiopeia, Andromeda & The Double Cluster

A broad northern Milky Way field connecting three of the region's most recognizable landmarks. The W-shaped Cassiopeia spans the center of the frame, the paired open clusters NGC 869 and NGC 884 gather below it in Perseus, and the elongated glow of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) emerges near the right edge.

Observation

Date: 15 Aug 2026
Time: 01:33 CEST
Site: Campolungo, Amandola, Marche, Italy
Bortle: Class 4
Bortle Class 4
Rural/Suburban Transition
Azimuth: +50° 00' 00.0"
Altitude: +58° 30' 00.0"

Atmospherics

Visibility: Excellent
Weather: Clear sky, dry mountain air, light breeze
Moon: 6% Waxing Crescent - Below horizon

Acquisition

Camera: Panasonic Lumix G7
Lens: Panasonic Lumix 25mm f/1.7
Mount: Static Tripod (Untracked)
Integration: 1 x 8s

Optics

Focal Length: 25mm
Aperture: f/1.7
ISO: ISO 1600

Post-Processing

Software: darktable
Pre-Processing: Single RAW development, embedded lens correction, LMMSE demosaicing, hot-pixel removal.
Post-Processing: AgX scene-referred tone mapping, Tone Equalizer background shaping, profiled wavelet denoise, Color Balance RGB chroma and vibrance tuning, Local Contrast enhancement for Milky Way structure and open-cluster separation.